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Mothers and Caregivers Economic Rights Campaign Gains Momentum

By Laurie Pettine* and Judith Stadtman Tucker**

NOW members passed an important resolution, "NOW Values Mothers' and Caregivers' Economic Rights," at the 2005 national NOW conference in Nashville. The resolution, which recounts NOW's longstanding work on economic justice for caregivers, calls for rededicating ourselves to the struggle to secure these rights. The resolution originated in NOW's Morris County, N.J. chapter, which had started a successful group called "Morris Mothering NOW," and it gained popular support during the conference.

In September 2005, the NOW National Board confirmed the presidents' appointments to the NOW Mothers and Caregivers Economic Rights (MCER) ad hoc advisory Committee (NOW-MCER). Atima Omara-Alwala (Va.), Veronica Arreola (Ill.), Michel Coconis (Ohio), Andrea Doll (Ak.), Laurie Pettine, Chair (N.J.), Teresa Lovaas Sykora (Wash.), Judith Stadtman Tucker (N.H.) and Joan Williams (Calif.) have been given the task of working with the board and the national officers to develop online resources and action kits, including talking points, programming ideas, media resources and background briefs.

The primary goals of the committee are to help NOW develop and support actions directly related to MCER issues; to educate the public and NOW membership on our continued commitment to the work of advocating for the economic rights of our nation's mothers and other caregivers; and to promote NOW membership growth by targeting the mothers and caregivers community through MCER resources and programming.

"Our society depends on millions of mothers, fathers, grandparents, siblings, children, relatives and partners who perform unpaid care work, most of whom are also juggling the demands of paid employment," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "It's time for the country to acknowledge and accommodate the importance of caregiving to the growth of our economy and to our quality of life. Our lawmakers and the private business sector must work together to help working families and individuals provide care for the children, the ill, the frail elderly and disabled adults in their lives."

Examples of policies intended to improve the economic security and well-being of women and men who devote substantial time to unpaid carework include affordable childcare and eldercare, with subsidies from government and employers; tax credits for family caregivers; universal healthcare; and social security benefits for non-employed caregivers.

In early 2006, the NOW-MCER committee drafted a phased plan for the development and implementation of MCER outreach to NOW members, the media and the general public, which committee members presented to the Board in February. The strategy calls for the creation of online action and educational pages for the NOW Web site.

Along with a comprehensive strategy for NOW-MCER policy and program goals, the Web page (www.now.org/mothers) currently features a petition in support of Rep. Lynn Woolsey's (D-Calif.) "Balancing Act" bill and the NOW "Mothers Matter, Caregivers Count" petition. The main NOW-MCER page also includes links to an extensive archive of past and current NOW actions and statements related to mothers and caregivers economic rights and selected educational resources.

NOW is moving forward rapidly with the MCER initiative by building momentum within our state and local chapters. This next step will include organized outreach to NOW leadership to learn more about the work chapters are doing on related issues and to increase awareness and support for MCER. As part of this information-sharing process, we are asking NOW leaders to complete and return a questionnaire, which was included in the May leadership mailing. State, regional and local leaders can also fill out the questionnaire online in our secure "Chapter's Only" section.

NOW is first and foremost a grassroots organization, and the feedback the NOW-MCER committee receives from NOW members will be used to develop effective, user-friendly materials for the NOW-MCER chapter action kit. We are hoping to compile a list of best practices and share stories of chapter successes. NOW activists are also invited to participate in "NOW-MCER Community," an online discussion group for feminist community building and outreach to mothers and other caregivers.

For more information about the NOW-MCER initiative, email us at nowmcer@yahoo.com. Visit the NOW-MCER section of the NOW Web site at www.now.org/mothers.

*Laurie Pettine is the chair of the NOW Mothers and Caregivers Economic Rights (MCER) ad hoc Advisory Committee.
**Judith Stadtman Tucker is a NOW MCER committee member and the editor of Mothers Movement Online.